Federation Class
Intended to be a fast and powerful deterrent along the Klingon and Romulan borders, the Federation Class was a child of political compromise and never lived up to her expected performance when the 4-Day War broke out in 2266. Lingering on until the outbreak of the Organian Conflict, she was quickly replaced in service with the Ulysses Class. She remained in service with the Federation Reserve Fleet for many years after. Development The development of Battleships for Starfleet dates back to the turn of the 23rd Century. Starfleet had never fielded Battleships: the last design of that designation had served with the UESN during the Earth-Romulan War. Lighter Cruisers had been more effective at policing the frontiers of the new Federation, although as early as the 2170s, larger and more powerful ships had been proposed. The main obstacle, outside of technical and design problems at the time, was a political resistance against anything that could be seen as aggressive or antagonistic, the Federation supposedly having been founded on peaceful principles. The leader of this pacifist movement was Vulcan Ambassador S'Kon. In 2185 he went before the Federation Security Council with a group of politicians and other Federation dignitaries concerned about the rapidly growing colonial territory of the Federation. They cited that such aggressive colonisation would only bring the Federation into great tension with neighbouring powers, when it met them. For many years, S'Kon and his beliefs held great sway in the Federation, and even smaller vessels deemed too militaristic, such as a 2192 Light Cruiser proposal called the Cheyenne Class, were rejected by the Federation Security Council, much to the chagrin of many in Starfleet. In 2208, after the death of Ambassador S'Kon, such resistance lessened, and the top brass in Starfleet, who served in the UESN as young men and women or grew up hearing the stories from the veterans they served with in the early years of Starfleet, were eager to get another "big ship" accepted for service. The first such design was the Quetzalcoatl Class of 2215. Technology of the time simply hadn't progressed to allow such large ships to move at the warp and impulse speeds required for them to be competitive, with warp cores not sufficiently powerful, nacelles not efficient enough and hull designs too inefficient to allow smooth warp speeds. Weaponry of the time was another concern, with the Photon Torpedo having only just entered service and Starfleet stipulating back-up Missile based weaponry as a fallback. In the end, the Quetzalcoatl failed to improve on the capabilities of the Lancaster Class and only two were built. A second attempt at building a Battleship for Starfleet came in 2235 in the guise of the Siegfried Class. By this point, Photon Torpedo technology had progressed to the point where it was considered a reliable weapon, and Starfleet designs no longer carried back-up Missiles. Warp core and nacelle technology had also progressed to the point that a ship of her size and design planform could reach reasonable speeds. The Siegfried was based around a proven large-hull design, the Belleau Wood Class Troop Transport. That design transferred most of the ship facilities to the primary hull, and this was seen as an opportunity to mount an extremely powerful beam weapon in the secondary hull. Such a beam weapon, code-named 'Kaminari' (Japanese for thunderbolt) had been under development by Starfleet R&D since 2223. All that was needed was a suitable hull to carry it. Design work on modifications to the Belleau Wood Class hull began in 2230. The new ship was to enter service in 2233. As it was, the 'Kaminari' failed spectacularly. During the field test, the initial submaximal discharges were successful. When the weapon was finally discharged at maximal output, a massive explosion occurred. The testbed ship, Lancaster Class ex-USS Whittle (NCC-1227) was completely destroyed and her crew of 22 were killed. The viewing station was showered with debris: 17 spectators and technicians were injured and 9, including Commodore Shrev of Andoria (Chief of Starfleet R&D) and Victoria Miho Chatterjee (Second Vice President of the Federation Council) were killed. As the weapon was still classified "top secret," the true nature of the accident was not publicly revealed until 2250. The problems with 'Kaminari' were eventually solved, but the weapon proved overweight, underpowered and short ranged. 8 of the 12 Siegfried Class ships left in service were modified in 2242 and had their 'Kaminari' Type II Phaser Cannons removed, being reclassified as Battlecruisers (the first of the type in Starfleet). They were finally retired in 2245 when sufficient number of Constitution Class ships had entered service. The need for a ship bigger and more powerful than the new Constitution Class was never really considered until the tensions surrounding the Treaty of Korvat. Indeed, the abortive raids just prior to it's signing in 2249 were repulsed by obsolete Kestrel Class Destroyers. When the Klingon Empire withdrew from the treaty in 2257, new designs for a Battleship to face the KDF were drawn up. The following year, construction was authorised by the Federation Security Council. From the outset the design was marred with political compromises, the likes of which hadn't been seen since the pacifist days of Ambassador S'Kon. Almost as soon as she was drawn up, the Klingon Chancellor, Durak, died under suspicious circumstances. This lead to a two-year Civil War which weakened the Empire and alleviated fears of an invasion in the Federation. This lead to many questioning the need for the new Battleship and postulating that such an aggressive move by the Federation might antagonise the Klingons, or even worse, the Romulans, into making a "pre-emptive strike". The original design called for a new type of Heavy Photon Torpedo to provide the necessary firepower, rather than any further development of the "Kaminari". No less than four torpedo tubes would be carried, mounted in the neck in a spacious torpedo room. Expected primary weapons were to be a bank of five Type A Phaser Emitters on a rounded octagonal primary hull, although already plans were afoot to see these replaced with more powerful weapons within a few years of introduction. She would have thick armour, shields three and a half times as strong as the Constitution Class, and be capable of speeds approaching that of the smaller Heavy Cruiser. But both the Federation Security Council and the General Accounting Office said no. It was too big, too powerful, and too expensive. No way could a ship of that type be seen to be in service with a peaceful organisation like Starfleet. Even the intended name, the Star Empire Class, was considered antagonistic. The designers were sent back to the drawing board, literally, to try again. After several more of these tete-a-tetes with the Federation Security Council, the final approved design was a shadow of the original. Gone were the new torpedoes and their torpedo room, replaced with a modified and slightly enlarged primary hull from a Constitution Class, mirrored vertically to provide two torpedo rooms, each with two tubes. The entire structure and systems were now comprised of Standard A systems that had never been intended to work on a vessel so large. This reduced her warp speeds down to barely acceptable levels, and also gave her precious little more firepower from her primary banks than the Constitution Class. Her shields were now barely two and a half times the power of her smaller forebear, and although still formidable even this was a strain on her power systems. An additional problem was the requirement that the design also be capable of scientific, exploratory and even diplomatic missions, which burdened down the already large ship with science labs, survey equipment, function rooms and even an arboretum. Of course, none of this was any use in a combat situation. Finally, the name of the new design was as obsequious as could be possible; the Federation Class. The design and production of the Federation Class still took many years, and the USS Federation (NCC-2100) did not leave dry dock on her shakedown cruise until 2264. Operational History Immediately, there were problems. Only the very best engineers could seem to keep the centreline nacelle coils in balance, and many times they were simply used for generating and storing additional power for the shields and weapon systems, further slowing the already lumbering beast. The impulse engines and thrusters, exactly the same types as used on the Constitution Class, were not designed to move such a heavy ship, and manoeuvrability suffered accordingly. Systems failed with alarming regularity, unable to take the additional strain of working on a vessel 60m larger and several times heavier than the Heavy Cruiser they were originally designed for. In the original design, new systems had been envisaged and conceptually designed that would solve this problem, but using Standard A components it simply wasn't possible to operate far from shore, which then rendered her supposed scientific and exploratory missions impossible, and even her diplomatic roles were hampered. The "combat debut" of the Federation Class was at the stand-off at Organia in 2266 at the very end of the 4-Day War. The two ships in sector when the war broke out a week before, the USS Organisation (NCC-2111) and USS Alliance (NCC-2113) finally arrived five days into the conflict and never fired their weapons in anger due to the Organians involvement. In fact, the involvement of the Federation Class in the 4-Day War was a propaganda disaster for Starfleet and the Federation. Although outwardly denying any such claims made by the Klingon state press, in private Starfleet was forced to admit that had battle commenced over Organia, their vaunted Battleships would be smouldering hulks, or worse, Klingon war prizes. Much worse, the KDF Warships they had faced were far more capable than was believed. While not as advanced or well rounded as their Federation counterparts, and often a little short-legged (giving Starfleet some breathing room as the KDF could not easily mount an offensive deep into the Federation without seizing critical bases and relying on a long supply line), the technology gap was closing. Within a decade, the KDF might surpass the currently level of sophistication within Starfleet. Despite the programmes initiated in the light of the failure of the Federation Class, nothing serviceable had come to fruition by the time the Organian Conflict broke out in 2285. The supposed replacement for the Federation Class, the Langley Class Battleship, had proven to be a technological dead end, taking so long to enter service that she was approaching obsolescence before the prototype was off the slipway. Indeed, the situation was so dire that despite all her failings, at least one, the USS Confederation (NCC-2114), was used during the V'Ger Incident in 2271, albeit kept out of harms way. The outbreak of war did much to speed up new designs, and in the second year of the war the new Ulysses Class had started to enter service, with even bigger ships planned in light of the startling new "super Battleship" then in service with the Romulan Star Navy, the War Eagle Class. The Federation Class never saw service in the Organian Conflict, being kept close to Federation homeworlds. After the introduction of the Ulysses Class, she was overhauled to Standard A Late specifications and placed into the Federation Reserve Fleet. Two years after her assignment to the Reserve Fleet, with the entry into service of a Federation "super Battleship" (the Missouri Class), she and similarly sized Capital Ships were redesignated as Dreadnoughts, with the new generation of gargantuan starships being classed as Battleships. With her overhaul, most of the scientific equipment, labs and other civilian accoutrements the Federation Class had been lumbered with were removed, giving a reduction in mass. This improved her impulse speeds by some degree, and had a noticeable effect on her manoeuvrability. Attaining further speed at warp however was hampered by her very design. It was as a Dreadnought, not a Battleship, that the Federation Class finally saw combat. In 2292 the Federation Reserve Fleet Shipyards in the Pearl System were attacked by Klingon forces. Amongst the casualties of the first attack was the USS Organisation (NCC-2111), lost with all hands trying to get underway, a sad twist of fate considering her role in the 4-Day War. In the General War which followed, the USS Star System (NCC-2107), USS Directorate (NCC-2110) and USS Star Union (NCC-2112) were lost although a good proportion of their crews were able to reach escape pods and survive the ordeal, rescued by the ships of the Gorn Royal Navy they served alongside in those early days of the war. The Federation Reserve Fleet having a defensive mandate, no Federation Class Dreadnoughts crossed into Klingon space, the count-offensive into the Empire being handled entirely by the GRN. Apocrypha With the end of the General War in August 2292, the Federation Reserve Fleet stood down, and with the signing of the Khitomer Accords, was finally disbanded in the waning months of 2293. The surviving Federation Class ships were decommissioned and scrapped shortly after. Specifications * Class: '''Dreadnought,' Obsolete * 'Hull Type Designation: FODN * '''Length: 350m * Crew: 1007 * Warp Nacelles: 3 * Maximum Sublight Speed: 3000 k/s (30 Mk/s) * Cruise Warp Factor Speed: wf 5.5 * Safe Maximum Warp Factor Speed: wf 7.1 * Hull Rating: '650 HSF * 'Shield Rating: 1150 FSP * Sensor Rating: 800 SRU * Armament and Equipment: ** Primary *** 5 × Type A Phaser Emitter ** Secondary *** 4 × Mark V Photon Torpedo Tube ** Heavy *** None ** Advanced *** None ** Equipment *** Tractor Beam Emitter *** Mark VI Probes Ships in Service (2292) USS Federation (NCC-2100) USS Star League (NCC-2101) USS Unificatum (NCC-2102) USS Compact (NCC-2103) USS Corporation (NCC-2104) USS Archanglelese (NCC-2105) USS Konkordium (NCC-2106) USS Star System (NCC-2107) USS Affiliation (NCC-2108) USS Concordat (NCC-2109) USS Directorate (NCC-2110) USS Organisation (NCC-2111) USS Star Union (NCC-2112) USS Alliance (NCC-2113) USS Confederation (NCC-2114) Category:Federation Reserve Fleet Vessels Category:Dreadnoughts Category:Battleships